Deformable electronic devices allow a user to manipulate the device by deforming the device. Deforming the device can include bending, folding, twisting, squeezing, and the like. Among other things, electronic devices can include displays.
Flexible displays can enable a wide array of interactions. Flexible displays can be deformed from a natural shape to other shapes. Examples of flexible displays include bendable, foldable, and rollable displays. Some bendable displays can be bent in almost any direction along multiple axes, while others may only be bendable in a single direction back or forth. Foldable displays can have one or more seamless hinges or the like without causing a break in pixel presentation in a display. Rollable displays can either be flexible or conformed to a particular curved shape. Some rollable displays can be understood as a bendable display in a single direction.
Further, electronic device manufacturers of all types of electronic devices strive to produce a rich interface for users. Conventional devices use visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some user interfaces, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback) and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat) are also provided to the user, more generally known collectively as “haptic feedback” or “haptic effects.” Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface. For example, vibration effects, or vibrotactile haptic effects, may be useful in providing cues to users of electronic devices to alert the user to specific events, or provide realistic feedback to create greater sensory immersion within a simulated or virtual environment.
In order to generate vibration or other effects, many devices utilize some type of actuator or haptic output device. Known actuators used for this purpose include an electromagnetic actuator such as an solenoid actuator, an Eccentric Rotating Mass (“ERM”) actuator in which an eccentric mass is moved by a motor, a Linear Resonant Actuator vibration motor (“LRA”), electro-active polymer actuator, or a piezoelectric actuator, etc. Kinesthetic actuators may be used to provide haptic feedback through mechanical movement of a device.